Munib Shahid

Munib Shahid (1908-1973) was Chairman of Hematology and Oncology at the Faculty of Medicine of the American University of Beirut.[1][2] He built the hematology laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine, a development that increased research output significantly.[3] The Dr. Munib Shahid Award is presented annually at the American University of Beirut to the fourth year medical student demonstrating the best performance in internal medicine and a mature character.[4]

Background and family

Munib Shahid was born in 1908 in Acre, Palestine to a prominent Baháʼí lineage. His parents were Mírzá Jalal, an Afnán, and Rúḥá Khánum. His paternal grandfather was Mírzá Muhammad-Hasan, titled "King of the Martyrs," while his maternal grandparents were Munirih Khánum and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, the son of and successor to Baháʼu'lláh, the founder-prophet of the Baháʼí Faith. As a prominent member of the Baháʼí Faith, Munib Shahid worked diligently to promote his faith. As a medical student at the American University of Beirut, his friends included such prominent Baháʼís as future Hand of the Cause of God Abu'l-Qásim Faizi. After graduating from medical school, Munib Shahid would continue to promote the Baháʼí Faith, and in 1937 he visited Baháʼí communities in Europe.[5]

In 1944, Munib Shahid married Serene Husseini, the daughter of Jamal al-Husayni. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith and Munib's cousin through ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's eldest daughter Ḍíyáʼíyyih Khánum, labeled this marriage a "treacherous act" and excommunicated Munib Shahid as a Covenant-breaker. Shoghi Effendi sent the following cable to the Baháʼí world in November 1944:

Monib Shahid, grandson of both ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and the King of Martyrs, married according to the Moslem rites the daughter of a political exile who is nephew of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. This treacherous act of alliance with enemies of the Faith merits condemnation of entire Baháʼí world."[6] (Baháʼí News, No. 172)

Munib and Serene Husseini continued to live in Beirut, where he pursued his academic career, and she promoted cottage industries among Palestinian refugees. Serene Shahid wrote a critically acclaimed autobiography of her childhood, titled, Jerusalem Memories.[7] The couple had three daughters, including Leila Shahid.

Munib Shahid died in 1973.

Selected publications

Among Shahid's publications were:[2]

  • (with H.A. Yenikomshian) "Typhoid Fever in Inocculated and Noninocculated Persons," Journe'es Medicales Libanais de Beyrouth (May 1938) 241-247.
  • "The Use of Nitrogen Mustard in Neoplastic Diseases of the Bone Marrow," Rev. Med. Liban. I (1961?): 45-51.
  • (with E. Stephan) "Perarterite noueuse-Maladie de Kussmaul." Rev. Med. Moy. Or. VI (1949): 295-303.
  • "ACTH et cortisone en hematologie." Rev. Med. Moy. Or. XI (1954): 279-291.
  • "Quelques considerations sur le favisme au Liban." Rev. Med. Moy. Or. (1960): 83-86.
  • (with N.A. Abu-Haydar) "Sickle Cell Disease in Lebanon and Syria." Acta Haemat., Basel XXVII (1962):268-273.
  • (with G.I. Abu-Haydar and N.A. Abu-Haydar) "Thalassemia Hemoglobin E. Disease. A Case Report from Quatar." Persian Gulf, Man., CLV (1963):129.
  • "Hemoglobinopathies in Lebanon and Arab Countries." Proc. IXth Congr. European Soc. Haemat., II (1963):496-500.
  • "Iron Absorption in Thalassemia." Abstr. IXth Congr. Int. Soc. Haemat. (Stockholm, 1964.)

Notes
  1. Mishalany, H (April 1973). "Professor Munib Shahid, 1908-1973". Le Journal Medical Libanais, The Lebanese Medical Journal. 26 (4): 323.
  2. Nassar, Mounir (Munir) (May 7, 2014). Clinical Medicine Research History at the American University of Beirut, Faculty of Medicine 1920-1974. Bloomington, Indiana: WestBow Press. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-1-4908-3279-1.
  3. "Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center: Deep Roots, Endless Skies". MainGate. V (4). Summer 2007. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  4. "University Prizes and Awards". p. 5. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  5. Effendi, Shoghi (1980). The Baha'i World 1936-1938 (Volume VII). Baha'i Publishing Trust. p. 110.
  6. "Messages from the Guardian". Baháʼí News (172). December 1944. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  7. Shahid, Serene (1999). Jerusalem Memories (PDF). Beirut, Lebanon: Naufal.
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